The Oklahoma City Thunder: With five minutes and five seconds left in the fourth quarter, Kevin Durant drilled a three-pointer to put the Thunder up 99-84. The 15-point bulge was Oklahoma City's biggest lead of the night. Durant's triple seemed like a knockout blow and Dallas coach Rick Carlisle immediately called a timeout to rally his troops.

But, c'mon, seriously. The Oklahoma City Arena was going bonkers. The Thunder had all the momentum. And, anyway, the Mavericks had accomplished their goal in Game3: They had stolen a road game and reclaimed homecourt advantage. It was time to pack their bags and try to get back to it at home in Game 5. Right?

Said Brendan Haywood: "You're lying if you're not surprised. Down 15 with 5 minutes to play you're thinking hopefully something can happen. You're just kind of wishing."

Wishing, huh? Well, somebody on the Dallas roster must have rubbed a genie the right way or something, because the Mavericks closed out the fourth with a 17-2 run to force overtime.

Make it a total of 6 points over the final 10 minutes and five seconds of playing time in this game. At home. With a playoff series on the line.

According to ESPN Stats and Information: "The Mavericks are the only team in the last 15 seasons to win a playoff game in which it trailed by 15 or more points with 5 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter."

Said Jason Terry: "There's times and situations where they are going to test the courage and the mental inner strength of your team. This was one of those times. This was a defining moment in our season where we look back and say, 'Hey, that was the game.'"

Meanwhile, when the Thunder look back on their season, this will probably be the defining moment where they look back and say, "Hey, that was the game where we blew our chance to go to the NBA Finals."

Bummer.

Said Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks: "There's no doubt it was a tough loss. If this loss did not hurt, there's no such thing as a loss that can hurt you. ... It goes without saying that it was a tough loss to accept, but it is a loss and we have to learn from it. I thought our guys played as hard a basketball game as you can play. They were physical, we challenged shots, we struggled a little bit down the stretch with execution and throughout the game we struggled with turnovers."

Kevin Durant's butter fingers: KD committed 9 of his team's 26 bumblefucks, including what may have been the biggest of the game. With 1:01 left in OT and the score tied at 101-101, J-Kidd stripped Durant as he was going up for a shot. On the other end, Kidd pump-faked Westbrook out of his shorts and then nailed a three with 40.3 seconds left. And that was pretty much the ball game.

Man, for a dude who can't shoot worth a damn, Kidd hits some big shots.

Speaking of threes...

Oklahoma City's three-point shooting: The Thunder had a historically bawful night from beyond the arc in Game 3, going 1-for-17, thanks largely to Durant's 0-for-8 festival of clank. Things didn't get much better in Game 4 as OKC went 2-for-13. KD hit the only two triples his team made. He also missed five others. But, in all fairness to him, three were desperation shots.

James Harden: He fouled out in only 23 minutes of PT. And his absence might have cost the Thunder the game. According to ESPN Stats and Information:

As mentioned the Thunder were outscored by 15 points in the final minutes of regulation, and a lot of that was because their offense changed drastically when James Harden fouled out at the 4:48 mark. Prior to Harden fouling out, the Thunder focused their offensive attention on the inside game. After Harden fouled out, though, the Thunder settled for long-range shots, missing their only two field goal attempts inside of 15 feet in the last nine minutes and 48 seconds of the game.

The Thunder's lackluster offense without Harden was also exposed in the pick-and-roll game. The Thunder ran 25 pick-and-roll plays prior to Harden fouling out but ran just two afterward. The transition offense also stalled, with the Thunder picking up 17 points on 14 transition plays prior to Harden fouling out. Afterward, the Thunder failed to score on their only transition play. This postseason, Harden has scored the eighth most points as a pick-and-roll ball handler and the sixth most transition points.

Best of the Night: Dirk Nowitzki: More from ESPN Stats and Info:

A huge part of the Mavericks comeback was Dirk Nowitzki who finished with his second 40-point game this postseason (both this series) and seventh of his career. After shooting 60.0 percent from the field in Game 4 and 80.0 percent in Game 1, the Elias Sports Bureau tells us that Nowitzki is the first player to record two games with 40 points while shooting at least 60.0 percent from the floor in the same playoff series since Shaquille O'Neal had a pair of games like that for the Los Angels Lakers in the 2000 Finals against the Indiana Pacers. For his playoff career, Nowitzki is 10-1 when he scores more than 35 points with his only loss coming in a 42-point performance in 2001 against the San Antonio Spurs.

Oh and if that's not enough, Nowtizki is 48-for-50 from the free throw line this postseason including the two clutch game-tying free throws he drained with six seconds left in regulation of Monday’s win.

If this is true then it's really bawful: Supposedly the OKC bench intentionally spilled water on the court and then sent the ball boys to wipe it up to ice Dirk when he shot his two free throws with 6 seconds left. I can't really see anything in this video, though: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oWKodQIRJc&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Bawful crowd: in both games at OC I realised the Thunder were the home team only because they were wearing their white jerseys. I mean, the WHOLE crowd at OC is wearing blue. MAVS blue. The arena looks like it's been invaded by the Army of Mark Cuban's Clones.

Hi Anaconda Guy or whoever it is who writes this blog. First of all yes I'm OKC fan and I know the Seattle history, I've seen the documentary. I enjoy reading your blog but this time you act like an idiot. This loss wasn't funny or even stupid it was just heartbreaking. Sometimes you you have to just shut up and let it be. No time for sarcasm. It's like kicking someone who lies on the ground. It's shameful.

I'm very disappointed in the Thunder.They honestly would have been better off ending every possession after that KD triple with a shot clock violation.

They gave away SIX free throws on fouls 90 feet from the basket. Russ tried to save a ball that would've been out on JET. Collison gambles for a steal that puts Dirk on the line. And KD had 2 seconds left. He could have pump-faked Marion and drew the foul, because Marion sure as hell jumped.

@ pion17You do realize that there is a loser in every single basketball game right? Why should one be treated better than the other? Oh right, because this time it's your team... Actually sir, you are the idiot.

Funny how the public perception of Nowitzki has changend all of a sudden. Dude has been doing that for years.

Yeah, Anaconda Guy! Making fun of other people is OK, but don't you dare make fun of things that I like!

pion17, that collapse was a five minute film study on the definition of 'bawful'. Throw in the fact that it was the only game on last night and, if they're not going to make fun of that, they might as well close the site.

Dirk clearly (thought he) saw the OKC bench spilling water in between the free throws: I could hear him saying something along those lines to the ref as ESPN transitioned to a commercial after he made the second.

To be fair to Westbrook, Durant was barely able to breathe once Harden fouled out; however, with his speed, why wasn't Westbrook driving more and trying to create contact/get to the line, or at least give Durant a little more breathing room?

To another anon, there's a slight hiccup in J-Kidd left foot. I didn't see it until like 3rd replay but it looks like he just lifted his pivot foot heel and put it back. Impossible to see at game speed IMO.

I'm a big fan of what Dirk has been doing in these playoffs. Absolutely amazing. However, a friend of mine claims that Dirk is better than LARRY BIRD! This blew my mind and I'm a Lakers fan (I know I know) who hates the Celtics. I guess I need to know if Dirk is really closing in on Larry Bird or do I need new, smarter friends?

@pion17: Dude, you have nothing to say to Seattle fans. Nothing. hear that? Nothing. Any crushed heart feelings on your part are piddling.

As for the site, a celebration of basketbawful demands trashing the Zombie Sonics for a record-setting collapse. If some of us Sonics fans gloat and talk about karma, I recommend that you just swallow it without gagging. You have a ball team to care about. Seattle has an empty renovated arena, a fraud case that wasn't prosecuted, and a city raping NBA commissioner.

@ bredifulAgree with your comment re the Oklahoma crowd wearing blue while the Mavs are wearing blue. However, the Dallas crowd wore blue in Games 1 and 2 while the visiting Thunder were in blue. (Miami gets this right with the fans in white and the team in white; other teams can't seem to figure it out.)

This is to say nothing about how odd it is that the OKC fans spend the whole game chanting "O-K-C, O-K-C!" In no other city would the fans chant the name of their home town (let alone an abbreviation thereof).

Random Anonymous re: Dirk vs. Bird...I would say that Dirk is good or better than Larry was on offense/shooting, but Larry also had more help. Larry was a slightly better rebounder, and probably a better defender, but there is no way Dirk is anywhere near as good of a passer as Larry Bird was. Bird is closer to Kidd in passing ability/vision than he is Dirk. And this is coming from a total Mavs homer and Dirk Lover.

Sorry about my comment but I'm in mourning. It's tough to be the victim as a fan. I just wish this young team survives the Meltdown and doesn't become the traumatized meltdown team for the next years (like Dallas). It's so sad.

@Shayan,: the bad word rhymes with bag, not day. Noah is clown shoes for dropping that weeks after Kobe got hit up for $100,000 for the same thing, but at least he owned it and apologized right away.

@pion: Not to pile on, but YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM. Seattle fans can feel like victims. Cleveland fans can feel like victims. And after those, there are legions of Raptor, Clipper, Trail Blazer, and King fans who are ahead of Blunder fans for victim status.

as to pion17's comment I generally get the impression that fans of this site are generally fans of losing teams because eventually you just got to laugh at your franchise's ineptitude, my team has never won more than 47 games (some times in 2 season's!) so after getting to the conf final after only having a team for 3 years you are only going to hear the smallest violin playing for you im afraid!

Pretty much all that needs to be said is that Dirk is definitely one of the greatest shooting 7 footers of all time. Honestly, it doesn't make sense to me to compare Larry Legend to Dirk. They are both in different categories.

Pion17: I've been and internazionale fan (yep, it's soccer for you degenerates) all my life and suffered all kind of umiliations both on and off the pitch for 20 years and then suddenly inter started winning and setting records. OKC will be fine, you're not the clippers. Oh and I'll keep making fun of your team, hope it's alright :)

Yea, speaking of franchise ineptitude, in the midst of these conference finals have we talked about the Blazers firing Rich Cho? I can't do the story justice, but hopefully some Rip City fans here can chime in on how much of an egotistical bastard Paul Allen is, and how the injury unluck of Oden and Roy basically sunk this ship.

I wanted to be the first to say it, though the point's already been made (best of all by pion17), but welcome to the NBA, Oklahoma City! I still don't know if you're properly broken in though considering you were still cheering your squad after they just committed one of biggest choke-jokes ever (still, preferable to a clueless Lakers crowd booing Phil Jackson's last game in LA). You might need a few more stupefying playoff losses, Durant bolting, and your franchise being relocated to Kansas City before you truly understand what Amazing is all about. The NBA, it's FAN-Tassstic!

Anaconda, some reports are saying that Rich Cho firing was purely due to "chemistry issues" between Rich and Paul Allen, and had nothing to do with Rich's performance as a GM. I guess that means Cho just didn't kiss Allen's ass hard enough, not that I blame him.

Batmanu: Obviously, with Harden fouling out, the situation ended up being what it was - but to continue from Bawful's comment, it's hard not to deny the objective reality of Westbrook's involvement in the final failtacular 5 minutes of regulation.

pion17: In line with just about everyone else here - your team is in a position that 26 other cities wish they could be in. Well, 27, because Seattle got jobbed, and 28 because Anaheim wanted to take Sacramento's team with the endorsement of the Maloofs' malfeasance (only to be stopped by folks like Mayor Kevin Johnson). So it's not surprising that the demographic here is as sympathetic to Bricktown's plight as they are to Latrell Spreewell's finances, which is to say they are not. LOL. :D

Honestly, it doesn't make sense to me to compare Larry Legend to Dirk. They are both in different categories. - EbbNFlow

It's because they're both blonde white superstars. Don't get too many of those.

@ chris

Yeah, undoubtedly he played his part, and in additional to settling for jumpers, had too many turnovers (as usual). But not enough attention has gone to Durant's disappearing act and the coaching staff's inability to draw up better plays. If Doc Rivers and Pop can find ways to get shooters WIDE open, then Scott Brooks should be able to create a play to get Durant at least a little space. Or with a second option. It seems like his plays are all hit or miss plays. And the fact that Cook didn't play more when Harden went out is a crime. They need someone who is at least a THREAT to space the floor. Cook provides that.

Aside from being a fan, I know what its like to be cast into a point guard position because of size. I previously mentioned that I'm only 5'8", but I'm 221 lbs and play more like a SF. It sucks being thrown into a position. I guess I just understand his predicament. I CAN play some PG now, but I'm not best suited for it, you know?

"If Dirk leads Dallas to 3+ titles over the Heat in the next 5 years then yes he's better than Larry Bird."

BWAHAHAHAHAhahahahaha!

Ah.

Dude, that would be really freakin cool. Sadly, this ain't wheelchair hoops, so Kidd is out, and Terry MAY have one good playoff run in his life (still to be determined). Still, if they win a ring they may get some championship bandwagoners. Plus, Caron Butler will be back next year! Right? Right? Bueller?

They really showed what an experienced team on playoff is. Both Kidd and Nowitzki played playoff for many years. And for thunder, it’s a good thing that they make it to playoff series even if most of their players are young and fresh to playoff series.